The present invention is an improvement in tablet crushing devices of the prior art, including the tablet crusher described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,637, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention provides a tablet crushing device that may be constructed with fewer and less complicated parts, while providing a smooth and quiet crushing action, while providing all of the other advantages of earlier devices such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,637.
These other advantages include effective crushing of the tablet into small particle size, relatively easy hand operation of the device through the use of mechanical advantage, the ability to crush tablets of various size and shape, the elimination of the need for use of impact forces, and the reduction of risk of cross contamination from different medications.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the mechanism is designed to be simpler and to avoid any undue strain on load bearing parts. In this regard, the tablet crusher described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,637 uses a complex linkage that may be strained by excessive force.
Finally, it remains desirable to provide a tablet crusher that is more compact than those of the prior art, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,637 and U.S. Design Pat. No. D502,267.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a tablet crusher that is effective, efficient and relatively quiet in operation, and which offers all of the same advantages of prior art devices while eliminating some of the remaining disadvantages.